Americans have gradually shifted away from viewing television shows and movies that are broadcast on traditional channels available from cable television providers and satellite television providers. At the same time, the purchase and use of physical media such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs has declined. Many Americans no longer subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite television subscription. According to Nielsen, about two in five American households now subscribe to a video on demand provider such as iTunes®, Netflix®, Amazon®, or Hulu®. Viewers may watch these shows and movies on their televisions that are connected to the internet and other devices such as smartphones and tablets using software applications that provide these video on demand services to their televisions or devices.
As an example, Hulu has over one hundred thousand television shows and seventeen thousand movies and iTunes has over forty five thousand movies and eighty five thousand television shows. Each video on demand service has a different set of television shows and movies. Although a viewer has easy access to these large libraries of shows and movies, it is difficult to find a particular show or movie, especially one that may be worth watching. This can lead to a frustrating experience where a viewer may spend a considerable amount of time trying to find a show or movie that is worth watching. In some cases, searching for a show can take just as long as watching the show.
It is with these issues in mind, among others, that various aspects of the disclosure were conceived.